Is a refurb Dell a bad idea?

This morning I tried to buy an Inspiron 6000, using the latest $750-off-$1500 coupon, only to find out that "select" means "not the ones with ATI cards." So, it looks like a refurbished notebook might be the only way to get the power I need (low-end 3D) for the price I want to pay (<$1000). I got sketchy looks from my co-workers when I described this plan, though. I figure Dell wouldn't sell (and more importantly, warranty) these systems if they were crap... but if I'm wrong, I'd rather learn from someone else's experience, not mine.

Any thoughts? (And if I'm missing some other source of cheap 3D-capable machines, please let me know...)

 

Its like buying a used car from a dealership. They'll sell you the car, extended warranty etc. However, no one (except Carfax[ ]) is going to know what the previous owner put on that car.

Same with a laptop. You are going to know what wear and tear its been through. There will always be wavering opinions from individuals who have refurbished ones. If I were you, I would wait (if you were able to), save some $$$ and then buy a new Dell.

Better yet, tell us what your looking for in a laptop and your price range and maybe we can recommend something.

 

Get an HP zv6000 on www.hpshopping.com

Better to get a new rather then refurbished laptop

 

Stupid lack of an edit option.

"You are going to know what wear and tear its been through." Sorry, that should read "You aren't"

 

Well, I have to say, that HP zv6000 is looking pretty good...

Like I said, low-end 3D... specifically, non-poly-intensive Maya work. I'm thinking 2GHz, 512 MB RAM + 64 MB dedicated video memory, minimum. Ideally less than $1000, although if the warranty pushes it a bit over I can live with that. And it's a desktop replacement, so weight/battery life isn't a huge concern.

 

If you can customize it, get just 256 MB of RAM. Save yourself some money.

Go to a vendor like newegg.com and buy two sticks of 512 MB and your set.

I feel that 1 GB of RAM is really necessary these days (or I'm terribly impatient with everything).

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Ramadoss29

 

Wait up! I just ordered a dell with the ati x300, pentium M 1.6 single channel harddrive(o0nly option avalible) WSGA+ for a gtrand total of 1,081 bucks! take another look.....www.dell.com/save750

 

I have a refurbished Dell I6000. You can't tell that it was ever used. Dell technitions inspect the refurbished laptops.

Dell I6000

 

APC,

"Just" as in "just today" or "just last week?"

It's not quite the same thing as the last "save 750" deal, AFAIK. The only ATI-powered system on the list seems to be the 9300, which is way more screen than I want. And yeah, I could still sit around and wait for the perfect coupon... but I'm not sure I'm willing to do that.


Ramadoss,

Wouldn't that void the warranty, though?


DMB,

Thanks for the info... guess I better put that option back on my list of systems to waffle over. ;P

 

razer's software allows you to change your mouse sensitivity on-the-fly. their software could also be saving the two different sensitivity setting for two different devices.

a simple solution might be to have the mouse properties icon on the tray(the box beside the clock) and just change settings everytime.

I just wish Firefox supported dcrolling from my touchpad...

The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that is has never tried to contact us.

 

There are three pre-set systems, the last one on the right offers decicated cards........the first two are standard integrated...but additionally dell forces you into some components, by only allowing you to get the dvd-r drive...and while forcing me to limit myself to a 40 gig hard drive. A sacrifice im willing to make.

 

So... my latest thought is to get a refurb Dell M60, 1.70GHz, 1GB RAM, 128MB Quadro FX GO700. But I'm still waffling. It's a lot closer to the ideal specs for Maya -- it's pretty much the ideal, plus two years -- and it's only slightly more than I wanted to pay.

Of course, it's refurbished, and probably older than the refurb I6000s I've been eyeing...

 

http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18058

i had asked the same question when i was considering the 9300 for the geforce card. As far as ive heard there doesnt seem to be any trouble with them.....as a matter of fact, most of these systems are never even open or used for long, as the refurbished dell stock is made up of pc's that people returned on the 21 day satisfaction period.

 

There are some tremendous auctions on ebay for the 6000D. I almost picked one up myself. I've regularly seen the model with 512mb and an X300 go for under $900 US. Give it a whirl.

I bought my 700m last week for $898. Configured through Dell (1.6ghz, DVD Burner, 512mb ram) it would have run me about $1200 plus shipping.

 

If you saw how electronics were manufactured in the first place you'd see they fail during testing all the time and get sent back through production for repairs. It's called infant mortality, just like babies if you can make it a few weeks chances are you will make it many years. Some still slip through the final qa test or fail in the first 30 days in the field and are exchanged by customers and sent back for factory repair.

So long as it is a current model I would not hesitate to buy a refurb so long as it had some sort of warranty.

 

my first laptop was a dell refurb and it lasted me just fine thru 3 years of law school.

that being said, i don't think a refurb is that great of a value. with the right coupons, you can get a new laptop for the same price, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less than a 'furb.

truth is, i think the refurb pricing for dell is pretty suck... you gotta really hunt for a good deal.

 

I purchased my 6000 off the refurb site a month ago. It has worked perfectly. The $ savings was worth the "risk" to me - ymmv.